by Jamie Oliver
SERVES 8
8 large duck legs
2kg duck or goose fat
½ a bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
10 fresh bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried juniper berries
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
MARINADE
2 oranges
4 tablespoons coarse sea salt
½ a bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
10 fresh bay leaves
1 small handful of dried juniper berries
Finely grate the orange zest into a pestle and mortar and bash with the remaining marinade ingredients. Rub this over the duck legs and leave overnight so the flavours penetrate and any moisture drips out.
Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/gas 3. Brush the marinade off the duck legs and put them into a small sturdy roasting tray. Add the duck or goose fat. Put the tray into the oven and cook for about 2 hours, or until the skin of the duck is crisp and the meat is tender, spooning the fat over the duck legs every so often. Around 5 minutes before the end, add the rosemary, bay, juniper berries and peppercorns to the tray to crisp up.
Take the tray out of the oven and allow the duck legs to cool a little. Put them into a sterilized container or tub with the rosemary, bay, juniper berries and peppercorns. Pour over the fat from the roasting tray — you may want to sieve it. Cover and allow to cool. The confit is now ready to store in the fridge.
When you’re ready to eat, just remove the number of duck legs you need. Put them on a roasting tray in a hot oven at full whack (240°C/475°F/gas 9) for 20 minutes, or until the skin is really crisp and the meat is so tender it will fall off the bone.
Try this: Lovely served with roasted radicchio (see page 214).
Or this: Whole onions can be added to the tray with the duck legs — they roast really well on a low heat for a couple of hours.
roasted radicchio
In England we never really think about roasting radicchio as a vegetable. In fact, most people don’t like it that much — it has a slight bitterness to it. But in Italy and France they cook radicchio and its slightly slimmer brother, which the Italians call treviso, as well as other relatives called cicoria and Belgian endive. By adding various herbs and spices to radicchio so many different flavours can be experienced — sweet, sour or smoky, for example. Here’s a great way of cooking with radicchio — it can be made into a warm salad with other fresh salad leaves, served alongside fish and meat, or chopped up and used in risottos or pasta dishes.
SERVES 4
2 radicchio, outer leaves trimmed
1 clove of garlic, peeled
½ a bunch of fresh thyme
olive oil
8 slices of pancetta or smoked streaky bacon
10 tablespoons cheap balsamic vinegar
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Carefully cut the radicchio into quarters — try to keep the core intact so all the leaves stay together. Bash the garlic and thyme to a pulp in a pestle and mortar, then stir in 6 tablespoons of oil. Season lightly with sea salt and black pepper, then drizzle this flavoured oil over the radicchio so the flavour gets right into it. Wrap pancetta around each radicchio quarter, leaving the core exposed to the heat — this will protect the delicate leaves and give it a fantastic flavour. Place the radicchio quarters in an ovenproof dish in which they will fit snugly, and drizzle over the balsamic vinegar. Roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the leaves have softened and the pancetta is beautifully crisp.
roasted trout & artichokes with almonds, breadcrumbs & mint
I used to go trout-fishing with Grandad when I was a kid. We would catch them, then go back to his pub and grill them with a little bit of butter. I liked to eat them with fried potatoes and onions and a squeeze of lemon. In the picture here I’ve used one large trout, but it works just as well if you use individual trout or salmon fillets.
SERVES 4
olive oil
8 × 150g trout fillets, skin on, scaled, pin-boned
1 small handful of blanched almonds
1 bunch of fresh mint, leaves picked
1 ciabatta, preferably stale
2 lemons
1 clove of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
12 marinated artichoke hearts, drained and sliced
4 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
½ a bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
4 tablespoons natural yoghurt
Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas 7 and rub a roasting tray with a little oil. Lay 4 of the trout fillets, skin side down, on the tray, with a few bits of string under each. Lightly toast the almonds in the oven for 2 minutes (watch carefully as they don’t take long), then bash in a pestle and mortar — try to get some powdery and some chunky. Tip into a bowl and rip in the mint. Take the crusts off the ciabatta and whiz in a food processor or chop up. Add to the bowl with the finely grated lemon zest, chopped garlic, artichoke hearts, 4 tablespoons of oil and a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Mix well and sprinkle over each trout fillet. Place the other 4 fillets on top, skin side up, laying a bacon rasher along the top of each one, and secure with the string. Sprinkle the thyme over the top and any excess filling in and around the tray. Place in the middle of the oven and cook for 15 minutes, or until the trout is golden and crisp. Season the yoghurt with salt and pepper and squeeze in a little lemon juice.
When the fish is ready, cut the string and serve the fillets with a nice drizzle of yoghurt and a green salad. Give everyone a wedge of lemon on their plate for squeezing over.
slow-roasted balsamic tomatoes with baby leeks & basil
This is one of those recipes that, apart from being damn tasty, is kind of slapdash but so easy to make and consistently good. You can really get some mileage out of it. The key things are to get yourself some best-quality plum tomatoes and buy some cheap balsamic vinegar, as you’ll be using a lot of it.
SERVES 6
12 ripe plum tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
1 bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked and torn
12 fresh bay leaves
12 baby leeks, trimmed and washed
200ml cheap balsamic vinegar
olive oil
Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/gas 3.
Score the tops of the tomatoes with a cross. Take an earthenware dish that the tomatoes will fit snugly into, and sprinkle the garlic and basil all over the bottom of it. Stand the tomatoes next to each other in the tray, on top of the garlic and basil, then push the bay leaves well into the scores in the tomatoes and season well with sea salt and black pepper. Lay the leeks on a board and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Using a rolling pin, press down on top of the leeks to really squeeze the seasoning into them. This will also loosen their texture. Weave the leeks in and around the tomatoes. Pour over the balsamic vinegar, drizzle over 2 tablespoons of oil, and roast for 1 hour. Remove the bay leaves before serving.
Try this: These tomatoes are great served as a vegetable dish, or as part of a warm salad. Also good as a base for soup, puréed to make a sauce or served over pasta.
roasted chicken stuffed with fragrant couscous & cooked on a sweet potato stovie
I made this when the mother-in-law came round for dinner. I wasn’t too sure about it beforehand, but it worked really well. I bought an organic chicken and treated the couscous like a stuffing. I’d managed to get hold of some really interesting dried fruit, so I used just a small handful of each, but what an amazing result! The stovie is mushy and moreish, rather like a Moroccan bubble and squeak.
SERVES 4
150g couscous
2 good handfuls of mixed dried fruit, such as bilberries, blueberries, redcurrants, wild strawberries, dates, cherries, apricots
2 handfuls of mixed nuts, such as almonds, pistachios, pine nuts, walnuts, crushed
1 big bunch of mixed fresh mint and parsley, leaves picked and roughly chopped
1 orange
1 lemon
2 large potatoes, peeled
3 large sweet potatoes, peeled
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 × 1.4kg whole chicken
crème fraîche or soured cream
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas 5. Put the couscous, dried fruits, nuts and most of the fresh herbs into a bowl. Finely grate in the orange and lemon zest and squeeze in all of the juice, reserving one of the lemon halves. Add 2 tablespoons of oil and a wineglass of warm water and mix everything together. Coarsely grate the potatoes and sweet potatoes into a bowl. In a pestle and mortar, pound up all the spices with a teaspoon of sea salt until you have a fine powder.
Stuff the chicken with all the flavoured couscous. Really push it in, and if there’s any left over you can mix it with the grated potatoes. Block the cavity with the reserved lemon half — this will keep the couscous inside the chicken. Rub the chicken with a little oil and half the spice mix, adding the rest to the potatoes. Rub 2 tablespoons of oil into a casserole pan, then add the potato mixture and press down. Put the chicken on top and roast in the oven for 1 hour 30 minutes, turning the heat down to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3 after 30 minutes.
Once cooked, discard the lemon half and check that the couscous is thoroughly hot. Leave the chicken to rest for 5 minutes, then put it on a carving board. Remove some of the excess fat from the potatoes with a little kitchen paper — just lay it over the top to let it soak up. To serve, carve the meat and divide between plates, giving each a nice spoonful of the potato stovie, then scrape out the fantastically flavoured couscous. Sprinkle the reserved mint and parsley over the top, and serve with some crème fraîche or soured cream.
unbelievable roast pork with stuffed apples & parsnips
As usual I was mucking about, trying to reinvent the apple sauce and roast pork story. I roasted everything together, and the flavours were absolutely amazing. What a brilliant way to eat apples with pork rather than having boring old apple sauce.
SERVES 6
½ a pork loin, rib-end, skin scored at 1cm intervals and removed, fat scored in criss-cross fashion (see page 224)
6 large parsnips, peeled and halved lengthways
6 small red onions, peeled
1 bunch of fresh sage, leaves picked
1 heaped teaspoon ground allspice
2 whole nutmegs, for grating
2 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 orange
100g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
6 eating apples
Preheat the oven to 220ºC/425ºF/gas 7. Season the pork skin well with sea salt and black pepper and place on a tray in the oven to start crackling — this will take around 15 to 20 minutes. Remove when golden and crisp. Meanwhile parboil the parsnips and red onions in boiling salted water for 5 minutes, then drain.
In a pestle and mortar bash the sage, allspice, a good grating of nutmeg, the garlic and finely grated orange zest with a good pinch of salt and pepper until you have a fine powder. Put the mixture into a bowl with the butter, then mix well. Run a knife around the middle of each apple — this will stop them bursting as they cook. Remove the core with a peeler without piercing right through the apple (see picture here) and discard. Pack the flavoured butter into the cavity of each apple — any excess butter can be spread all over the pork. Place the apples in the tray with the parsnips and red onions. Put the pork on top and place in the oven for 1 hour. After 30 minutes, take the tray out of the oven, remove the pork to a plate, and carefully toss the onion and parsnips in all the lovely cooking juices, trying not to disrupt the apples. Put the pork back on top, reduce the temperature to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4 and roast for a further 30 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Remove the pork from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before slicing. Turn the oven off, but keep the veggies and crackling warm until needed.
Carve the pork and serve with the veggies and the apples.
Try this: Steam some nice greens, toss them in the buttery juices from the roasting tray and serve alongside the pork
1. Remove the skin and score it.
2. Brown the meat.
3. Spread over the flavoured butter.
4. Remove the core from the apples and score around the outside of the skin.
5. Stuff the apples with the flavoured butter …
6. … until they’re all filled.
7. Add the veg to the tray and place the pork on top.
8. After cooking, allow the meat to rest before serving.
roast duck with bubble & squeak & stir-fried greens
You may think that duck is fatty … and, yes, sometimes it can be. But this method of cooking actually cooks out a fair bit of the fat (which can be kept for making the best roast spuds another day).
SERVES 4,
WITH LEFTOVERS
1 bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 × 2kg duck
300g swede, peeled and diced
300g carrots, peeled and diced
600g potatoes, peeled and diced
50g unsalted butter
400g Brussels sprouts or Savoy cabbage, finely chopped
SAUCE
olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
½ a bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 wineglass of brandy
1 × 400g tin of quality plum tomatoes
1 splash of white wine vinegar
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas 6.
Bash the thyme with 1 tablespoon of sea salt in a pestle and mortar. Rub this all over the duck, inside and out, then tie it up (see page 228). Place in a roasting pan, prick the skin to allow the fat to come out and roast for about 2 hours, or until crispy and cooked through, draining the fat off 2 or 3 times so you are left with just meat juices.
Meanwhile, cook the swede in a large pan of boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Add the carrot and potatoes and cook until they’re all tender, then drain. Allow to steam dry before mashing together.
Drizzle a little oil into a pan, add the onion, garlic and thyme and fry for 3 minutes, or until softened. Pour in the brandy — if you’re using a gas hob you can carefully flame it until the alcohol has cooked off. Add the tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes, or until you have a thick sauce. Finally, add the vinegar and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
Check to see if the duck is ready by pinching the thigh meat — it should feel tender and the skin should be crisp. If it’s cooked, remove it to a plate and leave to rest in a warm place for 30 minutes. Remove any excess fat from the pan, add a little water, then scrape up the sticky goodness and pour into the sauce. While the sauce is simmering, heat the butter in a non-stick pan and fry the Brussels sprouts for 3 minutes. Add the mashed veg, pat together, season to taste and fry, stirring every minute, until golden brown. To serve, divide the bubble and squeak between plates, then carve the duck, giving everybody a bit of leg and breast. Spoon over the sauce. Lovely!
TYING UP A BIRD
The principle of tying or trussing up birds is to keep them nice and secure.
1. Place the string under the front of the bird.
2. Tie a double knot.
3. Pull tight.
4. Guide the string to the back of the bird, following the line of the breast.
5. Pull underneath.
6. Tie a knot twice.
7. All nice and cosy and in place!
pot-roasted guinea fowl with fennel, potatoes & blood orange
In this recipe you could use chicken or pheasant instead of guinea fowl. If you can’t get hold of any blood oranges then normal ones will do, or use mandarins.
SERVES 4
2 × 1.2kg guinea fowl, pheasants or small chickens
1 tabl
espoon fennel seeds
½ a bunch of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
½ a bunch of fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 bulb of garlic, crushed
1 wineglass of gin
5 blood oranges
olive oil
1kg potatoes, peeled and halved
2 large bulbs of fennel, trimmed, each cut into 8 pieces, herby tops reserved
1 large handful of black olives, stone in
Cut the guinea fowl legs away from the breast meat — they take different times to cook, and you want to get it spot on (see the pictures here). To make the marinade, bash the fennel seeds, half the rosemary, half the thyme and the garlic in a pestle and mortar. Mix in the gin, finely grate in the orange zest and squeeze in the juice, then add 5 tablespoons of oil. Season with black pepper only.
Now get yourself a large plastic bag, push the guinea fowl legs and breasts down into one corner, then add the marinade. Squeeze out all the air and tie a knot in the bag. Put it in a bowl or on a large plate and keep it in the fridge for a day, turning occasionally.